Alleged journalist and leftist Paranjoy Guha Thakurta claims to be a journalist who fights misinformation and fake news. Yet, his own record shows something rather different: he repeatedly relies on WhatsApp forwards, old news, fake accounts and even manipulated content and then apologises after being caught.
His latest episode is a perfect example.
On 22 September 2026, Guha Thakurta shared a lengthy post making allegations about Tata Group Chairman N. Chandrasekaran. But the source was not an investigation, a document or a verified report.
It was a WhatsApp message.
Thakurta himself wrote, “Came as a WhatsApp message from a pro-Noel Tata person.” He called it “quite an eye-opener” and published it to his followers.
Hours later, he deleted the post and apologised, admitting that it contained “several inaccuracies and errors.”
He also conceded, “I should not have blindly believed what was sent to me and I should have done my due diligence more carefully.”
But this is hardly his first such apology.
His own social-media history contains multiple instances of him admitting to sharing fake, outdated or unverified content.
In April 2024, he apologised for sharing a fake Dainik Bhaskar election survey, writing, “I’m sorry I posted a picture of a front-page of the Bhaskar with a fake election survey.”
In 2019, he apologised for sharing a year-old story as current news.
That same year, he deleted another post after being told that the account he had shared was fake.
In 2020, he admitted that he had shared an old India Today article, saying he had failed to notice the year.
And in 2024, he apologised after sharing an AI-generated morphed video that had been falsely attributed to a woman.
The pattern is difficult to miss:
Share.
Don’t verify.
Get caught.
Delete.
Apologise.
This is the same Paranjoy Guha Thakurta who has spent years warning about misinformation and the dangers of WhatsApp forwards.
He blamed everyone, from the BJP to its supporters of needlessly forwarding Whatsapp messages. He even shared a Pulitzer Center piece titled “Inside the BJP’s WhatsApp Machine,” amplifying the narrative that the BJP’s IT cell operates through coordinated forward-based disinformation.
He even copy pasted some forward he received about former Supreme Court Chief Justice DY Chandrachud.
During the Iran war, he once again shared a joke he received via WhatsApp on his X handle.
In what looks like a pathetic attempt at taking a swipe at PM Modi and Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto’s speeches where they spoke on the number 8.
Yet when the WhatsApp forward arrives in his own inbox, the journalist who lectures others about misinformation appears to have no problem hitting “post.”
For someone who claims to fight fake news, perhaps a fact-check should begin with his own WhatsApp inbox.
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